WhatsApp iPhone app to introduce subscription fees later this year

Bringing iOS in line with the company’s Android and BlackBerry offerings, WhatsApp has confirmed that it is to introduce a subscription fee to its iPhone application later this year.

A globally dominant cross-platform messaging service, WhatsApp is to rejig its iOS pricing structure, scrapping the current 69 pence purchase fee in favour of a new annual subscription charge that will help increase the company’s revenues.

A plan already implemented on the services’ Windows Phone 8, BlackBerry and Android applications, the WhatsApp iOS subscription charges, which will affect both iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, have been confirmed as being set to be introduced within the coming months.

Although final details on the iOS subscription charges have yet to be revealed, WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum has stated: “We’re relaxed on dates, but definitely this year. It’s on the road map.”

WhatsApp, which handles a staggering 17 billion daily messages and has 100 million users on Google’s Android platform alone, currently charges a $1 annual subscription fee for none iOS users, a fee that is expected to be the same for future iPhone and iPad users.

Seemingly set to affect new users only, Koum has revealed that the multiplatform subscription charges are being introduced as the company “want to keep things simple.”

As well as confirming that an iOS subscription model is set to be introduced, Koum, speaking with a Dutch journalist, has revealed that despite a number of calls for such a service, no WhatsApp desktop app is currently in the works.

“We feel strongly that the world is moving to mobile and [so] we want to be mobile-only,” Koum said. “Your phone is with you all the time, and desktop is to many becoming a secondary experience. [So] our answer is no, not anytime soon.”

Would you be happy to pay an annual subscription charge to use WhatsApp on your iPhone or iPad or would this put you off the messaging service? Let us know via the TrustedReviews Twitter and Facebook feeds or through the comment boxes below.